


blood orange & rose petal marmalade

by shirohyasha



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Engagement, Future Fic, M/M, congrats u two, i cant believe masato and ren are canonly engaged now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 09:06:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20871692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shirohyasha/pseuds/shirohyasha
Summary: They have to be discreet. They've been discreet for years now, but their careers are winding down, and maybe they can allow themselves this.





	blood orange & rose petal marmalade

**Author's Note:**

> did you guys see masato and ren [got](https://twitter.com/Ren_J_SH/status/1179232817231859712) [engaged](https://twitter.com/Ren_J_SH/status/1179234844389396480) [last](https://twitter.com/Ren_J_SH/status/1179237693336756224) [night](https://twitter.com/Ren_J_SH/status/1179240165425864704) im so happy for them

“So what do you all want to do when we’re retired?” Otoya asks. “I’m not sure what we’re meant to do after this is over.”

It’s a valid question. They’ve been idols for nearly two decades now, and – well, they’re not sick of it. But they’re tired. They’re starting to want other things.

“I think I will go travelling,” Cecil says. “I will be expected to return home soon. But I will take the long way there.”

“That sounds good,” Syo agrees. “See the world without cameras watching you.”

Natsuki hums. “I’d like to start cooking again,” he says. “Maybe I could open a patisserie!”

They all shudder. Tokiya speaks quickly. “I’ve been looking into producing and directing,” he says. “A lot of retired idols work in the industry. I don’t think I want to stop yet.”

“You could be a teacher!” Otoya exclaims. “Like Ringo and Hyuuga were!”

Tokiya shakes his head, smiling. “I think you’d be more suited to being a teacher than I am,” he says. “You’ve got far more experience with children.”

Otoya lights up. “I hadn’t thought of that!” he says. “That’s a great idea!”

“What about you three?” Natsuki asks, aiming the question in Masato and Ren’s general direction and grabbing for Syo. “What do you want to do?”

Masato considers. “I’d like to get married,” he says.

There’s a moment of silence before Natsuki bursts into laughter. “That’s so like you, Masato!” he says. “You could be the best house-husband in the world.”

Otoya makes a confused sound. “But you don’t have anyone to marry,” he says. “Are you going to start dating as soon as you retire?”

“Perhaps,” Masato says. “I don’t think there’ll be a problem.”

Syo sighs through his teeth. “I think I’m gonna try working on action films and dramas,” he says. Masato bites back a smile. “Training up stunt doubles and choreographing fights, you know?”

“Sounds good,” Ren says. “You’re really good at that stuff, shorty.”

“I’m thirty-five!” Syo tells him. “That nickname stopped being cute when I hit twenty.”

“Don’t be silly, Syo-chan! You’re still cute!” Natsuki tells him, draping all over him and engulfing him in a hug. Syo, for all his martial arts prowess, is no match for Natsuki’s strength. “You’re always going to be cute!”

“Get off!” Syo yells. “Get off, get off!”

Ren ponders. “I always liked photography,” he says. “Maybe I could be a music photographer. Or I could do photoshoots. It’d be nice to be on the other side of the camera for once. Oh, and I’d like to get married as well.”

Cecil beams. “You are a romantic,” he says. “I bet you’ll have the fanciest wedding ever.”

Ren sighs dramatically. “I’m not sure,” he says. “I always liked the idea of a traditional wedding. But perhaps the reception could be more lavish. And the proposal is nearly as important, of course.”

Otoya props his chin on his hand, considering. “Sounds like you've really thought about it,” he says, wistful. “Ah, I wanna get married too!”

Natsuki pats his head sympathetically. “Don’t worry, Otoya!” he says. “You’ll definitely find someone.”

Cecil laughs and nudges Masato. “What about you?” he asks. “What kind of wedding do you want?”

Masato looks at his hands. “I’d like to be the one to propose,” he says. Ren narrows his eyes at him, which Masato makes a point of ignoring. “And I would prefer a traditional ceremony, though my sister did make me promise that she could be the flower girl if I ever got married. I guess I’d have to ask the priest to adapt the ceremony a little.”

Natsuki’s smile is suspiciously watery. “You’re as kind as ever,” he says. “Little Mai is so lucky to have such a sweet older brother.”

Masato flushes. “I have not been able to share much of my life with her. I’d like her to have this.”

“I need to go punch a wall,” Syo mumbles. “You’re the nicest person ever. I’m embarrassed to know you.”

They all laugh at him. Ren slings an arm over him, laughing. “Do you not want an invite to Hijirikawa’s wedding then?” he says.

“Fuck off,” Syo mutters. “See if I come to _your_ wedding.”

Ren grins. “You will,” he says. “You’re all invited. Except Hijirikawa.”

“Aw, Ren,” Otoya says. “I thought you were past all that!”

“We are, Ittoki,” Masato sighs. “Jinguji is simply looking to cause trouble.”

Ren’s grin broadens. “I’m not kidding. You’re not invited to my wedding.”

Masato looks like he’s fighting the urge to roll his eyes. “And yet, I will doubtlessly be there.”

Tokiya sighs loudly. “Behave, the two of you.”

Ren grins over at Masato, who smiles back, shaking his head.

Ren comes over for dinner a week later. Masato is cooking when he arrives, and Ren gamely takes a knife and starts cutting onions when he’s told to. They exchange pleasantries for a few moments, catching each other up on the small details of their lives. Masato has just finished up working on a drama. Ren is doing the theme for a movie.

They can get away with dinner together occasionally. Of course, neither of them ever stay the night. Masato tips the rinsed onions into the pot and turns the heat right down, and Ren washes his hands and wanders into the living area.

Masato brings him a glass of wine – white, because they’re having fish. Ren is picky about these things and Masato has grown used to them. Then again, Masato only drinks wine with Ren, so it wasn’t hard to acclimatise himself to his preferences.

“Have you thought any more about what you’re going to do in a few months?” Ren asks. The date for their last single as a group has been set, and poor Haruka is frantically working to make it perfect already. There will be one last tour, with ten shows, and then they will never perform as a group together again.

“I might carry on doing acting work,” Masato says. “A few theatres have approached me, and I have been sent information about some auditions. There are plenty of actors our age.”

Ren nods. “You’d still be in the spotlight,” he points out. Masato shakes his head.

“No,” he says. “I would refuse all public appearances and be an extremely reclusive figure. It would all be very mysterious.”

Ren laughs. “You know we’re going to be the hottest gossip for at least a year, right?” he asks. Masato nods, smiling tiredly into his glass. “You won’t be inconspicuous for a while.”

“We might even be more famous after we retire,” Masato says. “Or infamous, I suppose.”

Ren sighs. “It sucks,” he says. “We might have to postpone the wedding if we don’t want to be hounded by reporters for it.”

“We can just hire security,” Masato says. “It’s not like we aren’t used to them.”

Ren raises his glass to that. “The price we pay,” he says.

Masato sets his glass on the coffee table and goes back to the kitchen to finish dinner. Ren sets the table as he does and pours more wine, and Masato brings the plates out.

They eat quietly. Ren finishes first, waits for Masato to finish eating. Masato puts his chopsticks down and Ren goes to take his bowl, but Masato shakes his head.

“It can wait,” Masato says. Ren raises his eyebrows. Masato visibly steels himself, and puts a box on the table.

Ren stares at the box. Then he looks at Masato, disbelieving.

Masato looks back. Ren holds his gaze for at least half a minute.

“Open it.” Masato’s voice breaks. “Please.”

Ren takes the box and opens it. The ring is a silver band, a few millimetres wide with squared edges. There are two small diamonds set into it.

“I thought about it a lot,” Masato says. His voice is extremely even. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted both an engagement ring and a wedding ring, or if you just wanted one. But I wanted to get you one.”

“Bastard,” Ren says, thick. “You know I was planning on asking.”

“You still can,” Masato says. “I am partial to the idea of having two rings. We could pick the second pair out together, in a few months. But perhaps that’s extravagant of me.”

“That sounds good,” Ren says. “That sounds perfect.”

Masato sighs and takes his hand, slides the ring onto his finger. It fits perfectly, of course – Ren knows all of Masato’s measurements too. Ren holds his hand up.

“Shall I take this as a yes, then?” Masato asks. Ren raises his eyebrows at him.

“You’re not getting out of asking, if you’re insisting on making this a proposal,” he says. “But the answer will be yes.”

Masato smiles. “Alright then. Jinguji Ren, we have known each other nearly thirty years and I have loved you all of them, even while I hated you. Will you marry me?”

Ren grips Masato’s hand until Masato’s skin beneath his fingers is white. “Yes,” he whispers. “I will.”

Ren wears ring to work the next day. He has three rings on beside it, and a bracelet, all the same shade of silver. The next day he just wears the ring. The day after he doesn’t wear it, and the next day he wears two rings on his pinky finger and the engagement ring.

Masato smiles every time he sees it. Ren keeps this up until they retire.

Masato is not surprised when Ren pulls a ring on him the next time they get dinner together. Ren had booked them into a private room in an extremely expensive restaurant, overlooking the city lights. They had arrived separately, at different times, for secrecy purposes. Masato would be very surprised if Ren had made the reservation in his own name.

They don’t do this often – they rarely do it at all, actually. The last time they went on a ‘date’ was at least two years ago. They had snuck into a cinema and bought tickets from one of the automated machines, and worn flu masks when speaking to the person at the door. It had almost been more stress than it was worth it, but Masato would have done everything the same if he could do the day over.

The waitress clears their plates from the main course and once she’s gone, Ren pulls the ring from his pocket. They’re both in suits that give away how used to money they are – Masato’s tie alone had cost more than a small car. Ren isn’t wearing a tie, because he never does by choice. He looks attractively dishevelled, effortlessly good.

“So,” Ren begins. “You probably already know what’s coming, but I’m going to ask anyway.” Masato raises his eyebrows, and Ren sticks his tongue out, grinning. “Hijirikawa Masato, the love of my life.” He drops to one knee. “Will you do me the honour of marrying me?”

Masato holds his hand out, fighting not to smile as stupidly as he wants to. “I will,” he says, as Ren slides the ring onto his finger. “I would be honoured to.”

He tugs Ren to his feet and they lean into each other, like gravity or a pair of orbiting stars. He holds his hand up between them so they can both look at the ring. It looks good on Masato’s hands, a plain silver band just a little wider than the one he’d picked for Ren. Ren holds his own hand up, to compare.

“Not quite a matched set,” he admits. “I thought you would want something subtle.”

“It’s perfect,” Masato says. “There were many far more intricate designs, but I wanted to pick one that I was certain of.”

Ren presses their foreheads together. “I know we don’t really do this,” he says. His breath is gentle against Masato’s lips. “But I really want to kiss you.”

Masato closes his eyes and tips his face upward to press his mouth to Ren’s. “Well,” Masato says. “We are engaged. It would only be proper.”

It’s been fifteen years since they kissed with any regularity, but it’s still familiar to both of them. Ren settles his hands on Masato’s waist and Masato puts one hand on Ren’s chest, the other on the side of his neck.

“Mm,” Ren sighs. “The waitress will be back soon.”

“Perhaps just one more kiss then,” Masato says.

Ren ducks his head, nuzzling into Masato’s palm, takes his hand and kisses his knuckles. “For now,” he reminds him. “One more kiss for now.”

Masato does not wear the ring to work. Ren is disappointed, but not surprised. It would be noticeable if he were to suddenly start wearing jewellery off-camera.

He _is_ surprised when he catches sight of a chain around Masato’s neck, and can’t stop himself from grinning like an idiot when he sees his ring threaded onto it.

“Huh? Hijirikawa, you get a new accessory?” Syo asks. “Looks expensive.”

Masato smiles. “It is extremely valuable,” he says. Syo squints at it, and then sighs.

“You’re going to get us in trouble,” he mutters. “Don’t go getting sloppy just because we’ve only got three months left.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Masato says mildly.

Syo sighs. “Congratulations,” he offers.

“Thank you,” Masato says. Ren listens to this exchange with extreme amusement. Tokiya kicks him.

“Hurry up and get changed,” he says. “And congratulations, I guess.”

Ren grins. “Thanks, Icchi.”

**Author's Note:**

> after finishing this story i checked my BG to find that it was 37.4 and i had to be rushed to the icu. the nurses were amazed i had such high sugars with no ketones. im a medical miracle.
> 
> just to like, clarify, i dont think any of starish are gonna stop making music and they might even make more songs together!! but the seriously restrictive lifestyles idols live are just unsustainable and that's what they're retiring from, because i want them to take care of themselves and i'm in charge here
> 
> jokes aside [this](https://twitter.com/Ren_J_SH/status/1179243625592606720) is actually really sweet and i really enjoyed the drama of last night


End file.
